Question

Why would a high rate of mutation create challenges for the immune system?

A) the coronavirus will change into a flu virus

B) when the RdRP is making new DNA, it will have different base pairs than the original genome

C) the cell's DNA will get damaged and cause changes in cellular function

D) the outside shape of the virus' proteins directly determines whether the immune system can recognize it

Answer 1

The virus infects the cells and hijacks the cellular machinery to replicate its genome. This process of replication is done by a polymerase.

If the virus has a high mutation rate, it will result in changes in the bases of the genome of the virus. As a result, there will be a change in the protein sequence of the viral coat. The change in the sequence will result in a change in the structure.

Since the structure of the protein is what is recognized by the immune system to fight against the virus, any change in this will result in the lack of the immune system to detect the virus.

Therefore, the correct answer is D.